Harness



(No Model.)

H. STOUT.

HARNESS.

Patented Nov. 14, 1893.

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the horse may UNITED STATE PATENT Orin-ca,

HARVEY s'rour, OF FAIRMOUNT, KENTUCKY...

HARNESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 508,781,- dated November 14, 1893. Application filed June-24, 1893. Serial No. 478,724. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARVEY STOUT, of Fairmount, in the county of J effersou and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and Improved Harness, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. i

My invention relates to improvements in harnesses; and the object of my invention is to produce a harness which is cheap, simple and light, which may be easily applied to a horse, which is constructed in such a way that the horse may be instantly hitched to the shafts of a vehicle, which is also constructed so that the drawing strap and traces exert no friction on the breast of the horse, and which is also provided with means for instantly unhitching the horse from the vehicle so that in case of accident or a runaway, be instantly unhitched and the occupants of the vehicle saved from inury.

tain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying the trace buckle to the shaft and collars. Fig.

in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved harness which connects a horse and vehicle. Fig. 2. is a sectional plan of that portion of the harness which connects with the shafts and by which the carriage is drawn. Fig. 3 1s a broken inside elevation of one of the buckles which connects with the saddle, trace, and shaft, the same being shown applied-to the shaft and trace. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a broken side elevation of the shaft-,its fastening collars and the flexible key which binds 6 is a cross section on the line 66 in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a cross section on the line 77 in Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a perspective inside view of the buckle by which the trace is secured to the saddle and shaft; and Fig. 9 isa detail perspective view of one of the breast plate keepers and its roller. r

The harness is provided with the usual saddle 10, which may be of any approved kind, and to this is attached the usual back strap To these ends my invention consists of cer short traces 15 which, instead of connecting with a whiftletreein the usual way, are connected with the shafts by means of buckles to be described presently, and are also connected with the breast plate so, that the vehicle is hauled by the shafts.

The traces 15 are secured to the tongue 16 of a buckle 16 by means of which they connect with the shafts of the vehicle, and this buckle is provided with a loop 17which is adapted to lie on the inside of the shaft with its face next the saddle 10, and on the upper side ofthe loop is a keeper 1'8 to'receive the saddle strap 19 by which the buckle is socured to the saddle, While on the under side of the loop is a similar keeper 20, to receive the bellygirth 21.

On the outer side of theloop 17 and formed integral therewith, is a hook 22 which fits snugly upon the under side of the shaft 24 and between collars 23 on the "shaft, so that when a drawing strain is applied to the traces, the buckle 16', being confined between the collars 23, will cause the strain to come upon the shaft and the vehicle will be thusdrawn. On the under side of the collars 23 are keepers 25 which project below the hook 22,'and a flexible key 26 is adapted to be run through these keepers, as shown best in Figs. 3 -and 5,

so-as to .hold the hook in place and prevent the buckle 16 from being detached accidentally from the shaft.

The buckles 16* and their collars are arranged on both shafts, as shown in Fig. 2, and each key 26 is connected to acord 27 which extends backward through a keeper 27 on the cross bar of the shafts and up into the vehicle and, in case it becomes necessary to quickly detach the horse as in the case of a runaway, the cords 27 are pulled back, thus withdrawing the keys 26 from the keepers 25 and raising the shafts and collars 23 from the hooks 22 and thus the horse is entirely freed from the shafts and the vehicle isallowed to stop. The front ends of the traces 15 terminate in snap hooks 28 which are adapted to engage rings 29 at the ends of adraft strap30, which runs over rollers 31 in keepers 32, these being secured to the breast plate 33 and having suitable flanges 34 to rest firmly against the breast plate. The breast plate 33 is of substantially the usual kind and is supported by the ordinary strap 35 which extends across the withers of the horse.-

The arrangement of the rollers on the breast plate is such that the breast plate may lie immovable against the horse, while the draft strap may move freely over the rollers 31, and the strap thus has sufficient movement to adapt itself to the movement of the horses body, moving lengthwise back and forth and having the same function as an ordinary whiffletree.

It will be observed that when the harness is applied to the horse, which is done in the usual way, the breast plate being slipped over the head and the saddle buckled around the body of the animal, it is only necessary to adjust the traces on the tongues 16 of the buckles 16% to secure the horse to the shafts, or the buckles may be left upon the traces, which is the more convenient way, and the connection made with the shafts by adjusting the hooks 22 between the collars 23 and then thrusting the keys 26 through the keepers 25 so as to bind the hooks in place.

As above described, the horse may be instantly detached by simply pulling out the keys 26 and permitting the hooks 22 to drop;

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A harness, comprising the usual saddle, breeching and breast plate, a draft strap slidably mounted on the breast plate, traces secured to the end of the draft strap and breeching and buckles connected with the traces and provided with rigid hooks open at the top and constructed to receive and support the v shafts, substantially as described.

2. In a harness of the character described, a buckle provided with a trace tongue, saddle and girth receiving keepers, and a rigid and open shaft receiving hook, substantially as described.

3. A harness, comprising the breast plate,

the breeching, the draft strap, the traces connected with the draft strap and breeching, the buckles having projecting tongues to en gage the traces and provided with rigid hooks open at the top to receive and support the shafts, and means for holding the shafts and hooks in engagement, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the breast plate having keepers and rollers journaled therein, of the breeching, a draft strap held to run on the rollers, the traces secured to the ends of the draft strap and the breeching, and the buckles provided with loops and having tongues to engage the traces, and keepers on the upper and lower sides of the loops to connect with the saddle and belly girth, said buckles being further provided with hooks in whichv the shafts are supported, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the traces, the saddle and the vehicle shafts having fixed collars thereon, said collars being provided with projecting keepers, of buckles to connect with the traces and saddle, a rigid hook formed on the buckle and adapted to rest between the fixed collars, said hook being open at the top and constructed to receive and support the shafts, and a fastening device adapted to engage with the keepers on the collars, and hold the hook in place between the collars, substantially as described.

6. The combination, of the traces, the saddle, the shafts of the vehicle. having collars thereon with keepers projecting from them, buckles provided with keepers for connection with the saddle and belly girth and having tongues to engage the traces, hooks formed on the buckles and adapted to lie between the collars and support the shafts, keys extending.

through the keepers to bind the hooks in place, and means for removing the keys from the keepers, substantially as described.

HARVEY STOUT.

lVitnesses:

JOHN B. PHILLIPS, WILLIAM SMYSER. 

